[Online] Assistant men’s volleyball coach clarifies, expands upon previous remarks

On April 7, in the Daily Bruin story “BYU senior’s
eligibility questioned,” I was quoted as saying,
“It’s unfortunate for the athletes to see a blatant
disregard for the rules when we’re supposed to be educating
them. It’s just sad, especially for a religious school.
It’s just not right.”

Since I was quoted in the Daily Bruin, I have been inundated
with e-mail demanding an apology. There have been letters and
articles stating that I am mean-spirited, dishonest, unprofessional
and falsely accusatory.

Joe Hillman is nearly 27 years old, and at the very least in his
sixth year of eligibility, the last two years playing for BYU. The
NCAA allows an athlete four years of competitive eligibility. Once
a student-athlete enrolls full-time an an institution, they have
five years to complete four years of competition.

This “five-year clock” can be increased, though. Two
years can be added due to military service, peace corps service or
official church missions. It is possible to have seven years to
complete four years of competition. There is an NCAA rule that
charges an athlete one year of eligibility for every year of
competition after the age of 21.

Having completed his church mission past the age of 21, Hillman
competed for the Utah Valley State College men’s volleyball
team in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and with BYU in 2003 and 2004. Utah
Valley State doesn’t sponsor a varsity men’s team, but
they do have a competitive club program in association with NIRSA,
an organization made up of collegiate intramural teams and
intercollegiate sports clubs. There are over three times as many
NIRSA men’s volleyball teams as NCAA teams.

NIRSA teams have organized conferences, practice regularly, have
full competition schedules, and have 100 teams participate in the
national championship tournament. NIRSA teams schedule matches and
play in tournaments with NCAA teams. In fact, if it were not for
gender equity legislation, many NIRSA teams would be NCAA members
fully sponsored by their institution.

In 1998, Utah Valley State played BYU in front of nearly 5,000
spectators at the Marriott Center. They played the BYU defending
NCAA championship team and finished eighth at the UC Santa Barbara
collegiate tournament, where both NCAA and NIRSA teams
competed.

Hillman was selected to the NIRSA All-Tournament team in 1999,
2000 and 2002. He was MVP in 2001 and went on to play the last two
years at BYU. That’s six years of competitive volleyball. So
why was he cleared to play by the NCAA?

There is an obscure rule interpretation someone found from the
late 1980s. It allows for an athlete enrolled full-time at an
institution which does not sponsor a varsity program to compete
yearly on an organized team without being charged with a year of
competition.

Hillman played in 1999 with Utah Valley State; he was only
enrolled part-time, but because he was over the age of 21 he used
one year of eligibility. Hillman enrolled at Utah Valley State
full-time in 2000 (this is when the five-year clock starts) and
competed in 2000, 2001 and 2002. But because of the obscure
interpretation, these three years did not count toward his four
years of eligibility.

So Hillman played four years but was only charged with one
year.

With two years left on his five-year clock and with ample
eligibility left, the NCAA found no violation. Confusing? Yes.
Fair? You be the judge. Most NCAA men’s volleyball coaches
would have considered Hillman to have used his eligibility. To
actually find and use an interpretation from an unrelated case to
bend and manipulate the eligibility rule is a violation of fair
play and sportsmanship.

I do apologize. It was wrong for me to insinuate that a
religious school should be held to any higher standard than any
other institution.

Rofer is a UCLA men’s volleyball assistant coach.